Second Chances
by venusdemilo7
Summary: If Bella had stopped Jacob from opening the door of the truck, what would have happened? New Moon. BellaxJacob. COMPLETE, ONESHOT


Second Chances

A/N: The short italicized excerpt is from New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. I do not own the characters of the Twilight series—they are Ms. Meyer's. (Though I wonder if she'll let me borrow Jacob Black =p). This scene is an alternate ending to chapter 16 in New Moon. Hope you enjoy!

~*~*~*~

_Butterflies assaulted my stomach as I thought about turning my head. _

_And then, as clearly as if I were in immediate danger, Edward's velvet voice whispered in my ear. _

_"Be happy," he told me._

_I froze._

_Jacob felt me stiffen and released me automatically, reaching for the door._

Wait, _I wanted to say. _Just a minute. _But I was still locked in place, listening to the echo of Edward's voice in my head. _

Jacob turned his head, hand still outstretched towards the door handle.

What a strange scene we must have made, both frozen in time.

It took me another confusing minute to figure out that I had spoken aloud.

I asked him to wait, and he was waiting. I had another chance to do what was… right. What would make me—us—happy. I had to finally, and grudgingly, admit to myself that I _was_ happy… when I was with Jacob. I didn't want to go back to the time with no Jacob. I had already experienced that once, and in some ways it was more painful than when… Edward… had left me.

It was pretty simple really, the more I thought about it. The proverbial light bulb went off in my head and I smiled.

Bella + Jacob = happy

Bella – Jacob = not happy

Jake was watching me with half sad, half hopeful eyes, with his infinite patience. Waiting for me, for however long it took…

The thought thrilled me. So I leaned closer to him, placing both hands on his bare chest and pressed my lips lightly to his. I heard his breath hitch in his throat before he tentatively returned my kiss. I was surprised at how shy and awkward he seemed to be. I was starting to get used to the second, more confident Jacob.

I smiled into the kiss as I remembered that he really was younger than me… So young and so old in so many ways.

I pulled back and roved my eyes hungrily over his face, wanting to catch every detail of this moment and engrain it on my memory. He gazed back with eyes that were both surprised and questioning.

"Is this really happening?" he laughed hoarsely.

I smiled. How could I not?

In response I leaned in again for another chaste kiss. This time he was more prepared and slid his arm around my waist, his other hand holding the back of my neck. He was so warm… even more than usual, I imagined. His heat was radiating off him and saturating every cold spot I had left.

He broke the kiss, too soon in my opinion, and asked seriously, searching my eyes, "Is this really what you want?"

His boyish anxiety instantly relaxed me, and I laughed lightly, but with feeling. Jacob didn't awe or intimidate me like Edward did… My relative "experience" made me feel more confident around Jake; more in control of myself and less self-conscious. Edward and Jacob were literally night and day… Jake was real; was someone I didn't have to pretend to try to be better than I was to "deserve" him. Don't get me wrong, I still think he's much too good for me, but I know that he thoroughly enjoys my company and loves me for who I am—broken parts at all. But, I also have to grudgingly admit that the broken parts don't seem as broken anymore, when this close to him…

I quickly kissed his lips again, and answered him with honesty.

"Jake, you make me feel alive again. You made me want to go on living when I thought I didn't want to…" Then I said what I knew he needed to hear, and as I said the words, I knew them to be true. "_No one_ could replace what you mean to me."

His face instantly broke into a smile as he pulled us closer together and kissed me enthusiastically. My hands twined around his neck as we deepened the kiss.

After who knows how long, we broke apart, gasping for air, giggling like only best friends who had had their first kiss could. I didn't feel anything but warm glowing bliss in the moment, something I honestly couldn't remember feeling with Edward…

Then Jacob put his arm around me, placing my cheek on his burning hot chest. I was slightly perplexed when I realized that I hadn't heard the hallucination since it told me to "be happy." I wasn't sure what that meant… I stilled myself—glad Jacob couldn't see my face right now—waiting for the hallucination to say something.

But it didn't.

With a slight twinge of pain I had the sudden realization that I would not hear the voice again. _His_ voice.

However time waits for no one, and the next minute Jake was asking me when I planned to go inside.

"Charlie will be home soon," he reminded me.

I felt the sudden urge to ask—no, beg—him to not leave me then. I was afraid that this comfortable and magical moment between us would end as soon as I stepped outside the truck.

I looked up into his eyes and then smiled ruefully, more at myself than anything. What's the rush? He's not going anywhere.

Of that I'm positive.

We would take things slow. Hadn't we been doing that already? We both knew we had the rest of our lives ahead of us.

"Yeah, I'd better get inside before it starts raining harder."

"Kay, I'll see you tomorrow Bells," he smiled.

We opened our doors and stepped outside into the light but steady rain. Compared to the truck cab and Jacob's body, it was freezing outside. I shivered before he walked over and embraced me.

That's another reason on the quickly growing list of reasons why I love him. He respects my boundaries, and doesn't seem frantic or unsure as to when we will see each other again. He trusts that we have all the time in the world… and that makes me feel safe. Secure. No doubts between us like with me and Edward. (See, it gets easier and easier to think about him.)

One more kiss, a smile, a wave, and I was inside, shutting the door. I stopped—more out of habit than true worry—to see if the pain of the gnawing hole would return.

It didn't. Like the scar on my hand, it had healed and left a cool spot, surrounded completely by the warmth of Jacob Black's love.

I hummed out of tune and almost skipped upstairs, feeling for the first time in a long time completely happy with who I am and the world around me. I hope Alice saw the decision I made, and knew I was not only going to be happy, but _very_ happy.


End file.
